Mirrors A Jigoku Shoujo Fanfic
by OrangeLimes
Summary: Kagami has been dealing with a man obsessing over her for months. She has no choice but to use the Jigoku Tsushin. But she sees something in the Jigoku Shoujo's eyes in the ordeal; true pain. Is that what real pain is? Is reflected it in your eyes?
1. Kagami ,Beginnings

Author note: This is my first Jigoku Shoujo fanfic. I got bored with my other fanfics so they're gone now, sorry TT But I think this is more my style of writing, so enjoy. Also, "Ippen shin demiru?" I think means something like "Do you want to see what death is like?".

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The silhouette of the crescent moon shone serenely through the net curtains. She could see the clouds pursuing it, meandering through the blackness and the shrouds of fog. It was simplistic; an escape from the harsh reality that she was being pursued by a much darker, swifter being than the clouds in the heavens. It was much worse: a soul filled with sickly, evil adoration; filled with twisted ideals: someone who seemed so terrible that they could even dwell in the underworld. Her heartbeat slowed upon a knock at the door. Hope and light were consumed into a swirling, ravenous pit of agony and despair. There was no escape.

"Please… leave. Leave… leave… leave…" The words echoed from her lips, distant; like memories of fleeting footsteps sounding through a pristine marble corridor.

"There's no escape, my love…" He laughed, teasingly. She darted towards the computer, which she had left on in the case of her worst fears being realised. She quickly scanned the bold block writing; _'ERROR: 404 NOT FOUND'_

"1 minute… Just one minute… that's all…"

"Kagami. My darling, you can't run from me." The strange man stepped towards her, his shadow consuming hers. He cupped her face with his hands, running his fingers along her glossy lips. It was torture for her; violation; it sickened her. "Your skin is so smooth. I'd like to cut through it; I'd love to see your blood. How perfect it would be. We can be together in death. In our last moment, our blood mingling together…" "Stop! I… I hate you!" Kagami screamed. She tried to flee, but failed. Wiping a single tear from her eyes, she refreshed the screen and typed in the man's name. She knew how the site worked; wait until midnight, then type the name of your grudge to ferry them to Hell. She was scared before, but this was her only, her last chance. _'SEND'_. "I hate you!" she repeated, shouting so loud that her throat burned.

"Kagami, please, don't be like this, my love. You really don't have a choice here."

"I don't…

…Have a…

…Choice…"

Time slowed, blackness engulfed her. She was screaming: it felt like she was sinking. It felt like she was dying. There was light: A beautiful, sinister, disturbing, picturesque ruby light. The orange sun stayed perfectly in position: a permanent sunset.

"You… called me…?" An almost euphonious voice asked. Kagami looked up. Red eyes. They were so desperate, pleading and sad. The girl whom the eyes belonged to was beautiful. She had perfect porcelain skin and silky raven hair and wore a black Japanese school uniform. But her eyes were the truth; they reflected her pain and suffering, like enchanted mirrors.

"Y-yes."

"My name is… Enma Ai."

"Jigoku Shoujo?"

"That is correct," she whispered. For a second, the other petrified girl thought she saw a few tears fall from Ai's eyes upon speaking her title. Ai held out her hand. In it, was a charcoal-black doll with a deep red string attached to the neck "Please… Take it. If you want to take revenge upon the one you hate, remove the red string. That person will be ferried immediately to Hell."

"I-if I pull the s-string…" Kagami whispered to herself, her fingers pinching the blood-red string, ready to untie the ribbon. But she was interrupted.

"However, upon removing the string, your soul will also fall into the merciless pit of Hell. You will wander forever in pain and suffering, never knowing paradise… But that… is only when you die…" Ai said in a practically melodic fashion. Kagami's fingers relaxed. Was it the only way? "The rest is for you to decide," whispered the ruby-eyed girl.

Pain. Real, true pain. It went black again, but the blackness was living, breathing. Kagami was left screaming, writhing and flailing in the darkness until it faded. She was back in her house, staring into the cold eyes of her stalker, grasping the doll she received from Enma Ai. She didn't have a choice, was what she had been told by the terrifying man. Ai had gave her a choice; go to Hell or die now.

"At least… she gave me…" She cried, pulling the string.

"What the hell are you talking about, Kagami?" A scream. The mirror behind the man smashed. Blood seeped through the cracks; perfectly red in colour. A hand masked in shadows broke through, until it got hold of the man's face.

"_Your skin… I could slash through it right now…Or better, I could slash through your soul. Its so perfect… so perfectly black… dark, unforgiving…"_

"What is this?!" The man yelled.

"Pitiful soul drowning in shadows… You cause others pain and suffering…" Said a familiar peaceful voice. The girl was different; she was clad in an exquisite kimono, and her eyes looked in more pain; they looked so apologetic when they darted towards Kagami. "Tell me…"

"What is this?! What the-"

"Ippen… shin demiru?" With that, the shadowy hand dragged the man into the bloody mirror. The shards of glass sliced his skin, causing him to scream in pain and fear. It was over, but Kagami was left trembling, dreading every second that was to come of her life. Every second gone was a second closer to Hell. In this short amount of time, she'd seen and experienced so much pain. But this... this hurt more. The fact that she knew that no matter how good of a person she was, it woukdn't matter; karma didn't matter anymore. Nothing did, really. She was going to Hell, regardless. Why did this have to happen?

"You were right…" she sobbed, "We can be together in death. With our last moments being forever, our blood mingling together… I'd… love to see your blood. In Hell…" She collapsed onto the floor, crying amongst the pitiful, broken, blood-soaked shards of the mirror.


	2. Kyo ,Understanding

"Dad! You bastard, why the hell did you do that?!" Screamed the boy, his finger pointed accusingly at a middle-aged man with a fire extinguisher in his arms.

"Kyo… Keep your voice down!" Shouted the injured man coarsely. The blood stained his nearly colourless blonde hair a deep shade of red. The attacker meandered casually towards Kyo's father and picked up a wallet lying next to him. Kyo knew of his father's gambling problem. It was infectious, in a vague sense. He wouldn't go near a casino, but the fact that the addiction was flowing through his father's veins constantly ate away at his heart.

"We should go home…" said Kyo's father, desperately trying to stand up. The brunette tried to help his father to his feet, but dropped the man when he heard a gunshot, then a scream. It was close by; too close. The wide-eyed boy looked at his father: Blood was streaming from a wound in his forehead. The blood kept running down; onto his father's face, down his neck… It was like a never-ending river. There were more gunshots, echoing loud and sharp. "Kyo, run!" The dying man said with his last breath.

He ran. Running: faster than the sound of his own footsteps; everything was becoming a confused, angry blur; his heart was beating increasingly faster as he ran through the polished, gleaming corridor. He stopped as the sound of the gunshots faded. In the corner of his eye he saw an imperfection in the walls of the pristine corridor: "_God in Heaven, help me. –Kagami_". What the hell was going on? Had this happened to that girl as well? The name swam in his mind for some mind; he couldn't stop thinking that he had heard of her from his father…

After some time of walking, Kyo reached home. It was sickeningly familiar. Without his father, it just wasn't… right. The memory of his dad's murder rang clear in his mind: the screams, the blood. He picked up his mobile phone, in his daze. There was a text message, reading, "_dude i went on tht jigoku tsushin site. freaky sht. omg I cant believe it atually sends ppl 2 hell" _With that, Kyo logged onto his computer, and stared at the screen in disappointment as it came up with the message,_ "ERROR: 404 NOT FOUND"._ It was difficult to comprehend what had happened to his dad; it was difficult to take in, to realise… With a somewhat glazed expression, he checked his message again. The message was sent at 00:03 PM.

"Damn it…" He groaned. He began to adjust to the thought that his dad was gone. Before he knew it, his shell was gone. There was no way to mask his emotions anymore. He just let the tears escape the grasp of his defences; letting them flow. Could his dad see him crying? "Hah… Where are you now dad? Is it perfect there… in H-heaven?" he stammered. A few minutes later, Kyo climbed into bed: he didn't intend to sleep, as it would be impossible. He just let his soul drag him down, into nothingness. Nothing mattered anymore; it was the perfect daydream, like nothing mattered, like nothing had happened…

The boy was awoken by to the harsh reality of life by the equally harsh sound of his alarm clock. Midnight. Kyo then ran towards his computer and refreshed the page of the Jigoku Tsushin. Without paying much attention to his surroundings or conscience, he typed the name of his father's killer into the box. He'd seen the name many times, on bank statements and cheques. How he despised it.

"You called me…?" Whispered a peaceful, eerie voice.

"Y-yeah… Wait, how did you get in?!" She said, again pointing his finger accusingly at her. Her eyes were perfect: rose-red, but drenched in sorrow, reflecting the vulnerability of the school uniform-wearing girl.

"My name is… Enma Ai. The… Jigoku" He heard a sob: a quiet, pitiful, desperate sob. "…Shoujo." Looking down at the floor, the brunette saw a small puddle of clear tears. They were beautiful, in a way: Delicate, but also filled with hatred and turmoil.

"That bastard! He killed my-" Kyo rushed.

"Take it… please…" Ai interrupted as she handed a straw doll to the boy. It was mainly black, minus the blood-red string that seemed to juxtapose so harshly with how evil the doll looked. Suddenly, there was a flash of red light, and the atmosphere had changed. The orange sunlight danced amongst the red mist in the untouched sky. It was frighteningly peaceful; frighteningly beautiful… Was it… Heaven? "…If you desire revenge upon the one you bear hatred towards, remove the red string… That person shall be ferried immediately to Hell." Kyo began to speak, but he was interrupted again by Enma Ai, who whispered the words, "But… upon sending that person to Hell, when you die, your soul will also plunge into the depths of Hell, wandering forever in pain and suffering… never knowing paradise…" Gunshots; wounds bleeding darkness and shadows; severe, desperate pain…

The startled, scared boy let out a scream. He realised at that moment that he was lying on the floor, besides the computer. He could end this, but it was a double-edged sword: he too would one day fall into Hell. But even then… life was already Hell.

"I'm sorry, dad." Kyo uttered as he pulled the string from the doll.

"_I hear and deliver this vengeance."_

In a different part of the city, men were playing cards.

"… And the boy, Kyo?"

"I'm sorry."

"Remember your position. You are disposable. Any progress on the girl?"

"The man that was reported to have been following her has been recently reported as missing… But no progress. Forgive me!" There was a knock at the door. A man answered and stepped back in shock when he saw a casually dressed girl at the door.

"How the hell did you find this place, little girl?!" Shouted the man still wearing blood stains from the murder of Kyo's father, waving his first violently.

"Pitiful soul drowning in negative karma… Your actions cause others pain and suffering. Tell me…" Said the girl, whose clothes transformed into a magnificent floral kimono, "Ippen… shin demiru?"

The next day, Kyo got out of bed, his eyes red from tears. He picked up his school shirt, before glancing at his chest. He had been branded with a mark that would forever remind him of his fate: Hell. All he could do now was look at himself in the mirror. His eyes were different now; they reflected so much hurt and dread. Maybe now he could understand how Ai felt, and that distant, pleading look in her eyes, like mirrors into a person's soul…


	3. x Years Ago ,Happiness

Author note: Hi :D Yay for 3rd chapter ness! Anyway, this is a chapter used to explain some stuff in chapters 1 and 2. The time in the 1st and 2nd chapters is the "present time", just to clarify. Anyways, please read and review :)

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Two years ago

"Kagami-chan!" screamed a tall woman. Her hair and lips were both a deep red, and both shone like red jewels when the light hit them. She grabbed the young girl's hand and tried to flee from the man in pursuit of them, but a single shot was fired, causing her to fall to the ground. Kagami rushed over to the woman, wailing and clinging to her.

"Mother! Please get up?" the innocent young girl sobbed, "…Please?" It was silent, and her mother's blood bathed her clothes in a dark red. Without thinking, she ran away from the scene; fleeing, like her mother tried to, from the gunshots that followed her footsteps.

Her chest was on fire; she hadn't stopped running for what seemed like forever. She stopped running as she realised the gunshots were no longer audible. The corridor-like place she was standing in was very welcoming in appearance. It looked like the outside area of a five-star hotel reception. Kagami ran up to one of the unmarked walls and, in her confusion, engraved the words _"God in Heaven, help me. –Kagami" _into it with a sharpened stone.

"Huh? What're you doing? People my age shouldn't be doing stuff like that," said a sharp-sounding voice. Standing behind her was a boy around her height, pointing his finger accusingly at her. "Dad said so," he finished matter-of-factly. Kagami looked at the boy, her eyes still wide with shock of what had happened to her mother, brimming with tears. "What's up?" the boy questioned, lowering his accusingly pointed finger. He carefully examined the wall that had been recently "vandalised".

"S-some bad p-people… shot… my… m-mother. A-and they're goin-" she stuttered before being interrupted.

"You should run. Don't let them find you, 'kay?" said the boy, playfully. It was almost like he understood too well. "Dad!" he shouted, running further and further away from Kagami, in a panicked state. She looked at the boy, confused. She hadn't even asked for his name… Just at that moment, she noticed that her phone was ringing.

"H-hello?"

"Hello, my love… You looked so pretty just then; so scared."

"Leave me alone!" she screamed, ending the call hastily, before collapsing into a fit of tears.

Present time

"Ai? Ai?" shouted a high-voiced woman from behind a thin, paper wall. Her shadow was highly visible through the wall, but the door remained closed considering of the ease that sound could travel through them.

"Yes…?" whispered a peaceful voice in a monotonic fashion. The girl did not open the door, but instead stood obediently outside of it, the skirt of her dark uniform and her silky raven hair fluttering in the gentle wind.

"You seem upset, Ai-chan. What is the matter? Hell can be paradise if you let it, Ai," spoke the woman, still concealed by the paper doors, in a comforting tone.

"Nothing is wrong, Grandma… Is it… wrong for Hell to be Heaven to me?" she stalled, her gaze distant: towards the permanent sunset shining constantly through the red sky.

"Not at all, Ai. Heaven is a place you are happiest in," the lady stated. Ai looked down at the floor and began to kick a small, smooth stone gently with her foot, her kick being soft like the touch of a feather. Her eyes were glazed with pain and sorrow. Soon, tears began to fall, lightly hitting the ground, creating small pattering sounds against the floor. She began to cry more, her tears becoming more frequent, like a storm that was picking up, causing her to kick the stone harder and harder, until it landed too far away.

"Happiest…? I… see…" she said, as she wandered away from company, up to a perfectly-rounded hill where the view of the sunset was exquisite. She gazed up at it, with an empty stare. "I've seen it… millions of times…" she uttered.

One year ago

"Dad! We can't keep borrowing money from those idiots!" shouted a fiery Kyo, again pointing his finger accusingly. "We're way behind with paying back! Don't you care?!"

"Kyo! I care, but it's just… its just one more game! I'll win it all back!" retaliated the middle-aged man. His hair was light blonde, but dull and lifeless. He smelt strongly of cigarettes and his clothes were dirty and damaged. He seemed like he had given up with life completely, and his eyes were practically lifeless and lacked energy. "Listen, what happened to that girl's mother won't happen to us!"

"I don't care, bastard!" he screamed, throwing a book at his father.

"Kyo, listen to me!" Listen!" the man said, trying to hold down his son with his hands, "That woman… she borrowed millions. You read the newspaper, right? All to shut down a hit request site that she had no connection to?! It was stupid!"

"I… don't… care!" he panted, trying to break free from his father, who was trying hard to stop the boy from punching him. He shouted, "She still got killed! I don't care about the reasons! What the hell did you do, research the whole incident?!" The room was dingy; the wallpaper peeling like sun-burnt skin, the ceiling and carpet stained with coffee (possibly from a "family disagreement") and the windows cracked and broken.

Kyo stormed out of the room, until he reached the outside of his home. The pavement was a boring, depressing grey and the sky was similar in colour. It looked like it was about to rain any minute. Then again, maybe it just always looked like that, he thought. Kyo's world had either been drained colourless, or drenched with grey. Either one wasn't good, in his opinion. He paced up and down the street with a completely destroyed look on his face. It was like only he cared about the debt. Was his father blind from it? Or had he just given up? It didn't really matter anymore. His home was shoddy, his life was boring and he wasn't particularly brilliant at anything… What was to look forward to? Life was a living Hell.


	4. Last Act as a Mother ,Death

Present time

The sunset truly was eternal; it would always be there as a reminder of cruel, everlasting, monotonous, painful destiny. The red sky never changed in hue; forever it was stained blood red and the fog accompanied it always: an eternal marriage, pain resounding forevermore from the first, fiftieth, thousandth sighting. Sitting on the hill, staring into the eternal sky was the Jigoku Shoujo. It was a quiet getaway from others, but a loud, piercing reminder of how she was bound to her role.

"Heheh, is it still orange?" questioned a tall, adolescent male. Only one of his dark eyes was visible, as a charcoal-black side fringe, which draped elegantly over part of his face, masked the other. He looked happy: contented, almost, with forever residing in Hell.

"Ren…san…" Said Ai as her eyes temporarily darted towards the casually dressed man, before suffixing back onto the still sunset.

"'Ren-san'? Is that new? Ah, never mind, Miss," he said, before sitting down to join the pensive girl. "It'll never change, y'know, Miss. The sun, But you've got us, right?" he insisted, ambivalent to deciding to comfort or inform Ai or not. Upon his words, Ai's pupils widened with hopelessness, and she looked down at the grass on the hill, beginning to caress it lightly with her hand, weaving in and out of the blades.

"…I understand," she said, robotically, after pausing awhile in hesitation. It was silent until she uttered, "But… I was so sure, that maybe… the Jigoku Tsushin would be stopped… back then…"

"Miss, didn't you just recently say that Hell was paradise for you?" Ren questioned sincerely.

"Paradise…? It is. Except… in paradise, people are… happy."

Three years ago

"…Ippen… shin demiru?" whispered a familiar angelic, but evil voice.

"Wait, no! I want to cancel my contrac-" screamed a red-haired woman, her nails digging into her face as she covered her mouth in shock.

"I'm… sorry… A contract with Hell cannot be withdrawn… Forgive me… I didn't ask for…" Her voice faded away as she disappeared into the mirror, her kimono dancing with the phantom wind in the unknown; her fists clenched in emotional discomfort and regret.

A few days later, nothing was different. It was like Ai had never "graced" the house with her presence. The only glitch in the whitewash was the seal of the contract; the mark of Hell permanently tattooed onto the woman's chest. A phone sounded. The woman dashed over to the ringing device and answered.

"Hello?"

"When will Kagami-chan be returning?"

"You pervert! Leave my daughter alone, bastard!" she shrieked, slamming down the phone in rage and utter disgust. How dare that man think perverse thoughts about her Kagami? Why would he torture her like this if he claimed to love her? Just… why? Why did everything happen like this? Minutes later, a text message was received by the same device, reading, _"Not even Hell will stop me, Kagami." _After reading this, the woman gasped. The Jigoku Tsushin had to be stopped. With enough money, surely she could find someone who could hack and destroy it? Many people could be saved from the same cruel fate as herself; saved from hell. Her last act as a mother, if necessary, would be to protect Kagami from this evil site: her last act before disappearing into the black pit of Hell.

2 years, 6 months ago:

"I'm afraid this website is somehow protected. I'm sorry." Stated a pale-skinned meek looking woman, as she pushed up her glasses. As she held her head down in disgrace that someone with her mastery of hacking couldn't even destroy a website such as this, the light caught her lenses and they glinted mysteriously.

"What?! But this site is dangerous, it can kill people!" Panicked the desperate mother.

"Maybe you should be worrying about the danger you yourself are in. You say you borrowed the money? The interest must be substantial…" Scoffed the woman, not believing in the danger of a site that seemed to be filled with errors. As the pale woman went back to her computer, Kagami's mother stormed out of the room angrily. That interest was a lot, she mused. Was there really any possibility that she would indeed be able to pay it back? An illegal lender like that would only keep taking… And if she couldn't repay, what would happen to her and Kagami? They would be killed, for certain. Maybe Hell was the perfect place for her, she thought. A failure like her… should never know paradise.

Present time:

It was what seemed like forever after that incident, Kagami thought. But she would always be reminded of her fate from the mark on her chest. Maybe this meant she had to make this plane as close to Heaven as possible, so she could know paradise, even if it was only for a few moments. She was sitting at her computer desk, staring at the Jigoku Tsushin site, reading the text over and over. Her eyes were practically red from reading it so many times, but she had to understand. Understand… everything.

"Is there… anyone who understands? I… don't want to be…"

"… Alone, anymore," said Ai, still sitting up on the hill, staring into the redness of the sky. She was looking desperately into Ren's familiar dark eyes. How could he be happy? How could Hell be paradise for him?

"Miss, I'm sorry, but I cannot change your fate. No one can. You will serve as the Jigoku Shoujo as eternity." Ren said, shaking his head, unable to think of ways to make the situation any better than by saying something like "it could be worse, you could have ended up like your clients". But he had enough awareness of Ai's emotions that saying that statement would be inappropriate.

"Please, Ren-san… Don't call me…" she sobbed, her tears subduing the pure evil redness of her eyes into a lighter, nearer-to-brown shade. "I don't want to be… I didn't…" Ai continued, wiping the tears that kept flowing like the blood-filled rivers of Hell.

"Ai. I'm sorry." he said, as he walked away.


End file.
